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Somehow, two years have passed. And Dallin will be flying back to the states on March 26th. It has been quite the adventure! I will encourage him to add his own summary when he gets back...(Living the good life in the Philippines, Quezon City North Mission. Entered the MTC in Provo on April 4, 2012. Flew to the Philippines on Sunday, May 13, 2012. What a great adventure! And what an honor to serve the good people of the Pines!)

Monday, November 19, 2012

"We are gonna do up Updowns Until Blue is No Longer Tired and Thirsty"


Hey, Sexy Laaday! I don't know if that song is popular back at home, but it for sure is here. Then again, so is Pusong Bato, which I know for a fact isn't famous state side. So whatevs. 

Ok, I have everything written out here. So I'll hop straight to work!! 

It's been a wonderful, wonderful week! Me and Elder Bruno Mars, oh psych, I mean Elder Judar have been killing it out here! Absolutely slaying it! But that is kind of a recent development. The whole week wasn't that way. But you'll find out about that later. We'll get there. But the whole week has been happy and exciting and full of killer missionary work. Full of a delicious tiredness that can only come from spreading the gospel until you can't walk anymore. And even then, you're ok because you can just ride one of the many cows. And the comment about Bruno Mars is because my comp sings his songs very well. Sometimes I forget that he is my comp and not actually a famous non-member singer. 

So thing to be noted first. This week was wonderful! But it was challenging as well. We got punted almost all week. It was insane!! Monday was P-day, after which we had two FHE appointments. The last one canceled on us. Tuesday we didn't get in a single lesson. We walked for 6 hours straight without getting in anywhere or sitting down or stopping for longer than it takes to call out to someone and get turned away. It was ridiculous. Wednesday was much the same. One or two appointments. The rest of the week was like that until Friday when we had 3 appointments. Then came the success. Saturday, we were bombed with appointments! Almost every single person let us in!! It was wonderful! And then Sunday we had a lot of success too! It was wonderful! Needless to say, we had a rough week that turned out to be a very good week all in the end. And surprisingly, we stayed happy all through getting punted. We do well together as a companionship. It's hard to get our spirits down. Ha, or siguro impossible. We just enjoy being happy and when you're doing the Lord's work....it's easy to be happy. So we are! I truly think the success of the last few days came as a blessing from the Lord. It would have been easy to say, "man, we've been walking in the heat all day every day with no success. Let's take it easy today. Let's only plan a few appointments. Let's go out late. Let's come home early." But because we pushed it hard, through the heat, through the whole day, planning full days, the Lord blessed us for our efforts. We had our faith tried a little bit. Ha, a slight bit. Just to see how faithful we were willing to be perhaps. But when we hold out faithful and do as the Lord asks us to do, we will receive the promised blessings. I know that is true. 

There were a lot of wonderful experiences through this week. I almost don't know where to start. The first day, the day we never got into a single appointment. Our area is huge. It's gigantic!! And we have so many people. Usually, we will take one or two barangays (kind of like neighborhoods) and teach there. But that day, we did about 5. The distance was crazy!! By the end of the day, we were completely beat. But we knew we needed to keep our hustle on and get to one last person. On the way, we were so dead tired. Almost to the point where we really just didn't want to walk anymore. It would have been nice to take a rest. But we kept walking. Right then, a tricycle driver pulled up and asked us if we wanted a ride. We said walang pera. He said, "Ok lang, walang bayad!" So even though we couldn't pay him, he'd give us a ride. So we got on. He was a nice guy. Potential investigator. And he came right at the very best time, once again, AFTER the trial of faith. A blessing straight from the Lord. 

We found tons of LA's and past or new Investigators this week. Things just worked. People called out to us and we decided to talk to them. I'm not the best at just talking to new people and bringing up the gospel. It's a bit tough and for me, can be awkward. But it's a goal of mine to always talk to people that call out to us. There is often a reason that they are prompted to say something to the kids in white shirts. Often, they are just ready for the gospel. So that went well for us this week. We probably had that happen about 6 or 7 times. Wonderful!!

We have a less active, I think I mentioned last week. He is an endowed member. Sealed with his family. Super active back then. But now, as with most members in the Philippines, he's inactive. But we've been meeting with him and things have been going very well. He has problems that he needs to overcome. But he's open about them and willing to change. He has a desire to change. It's wonderful! He's been to church 2 weeks in a row! The ward has been shocked because he hasn't been in years. There have been efforts made to bring him back. But nothing has worked. This is why you can't give up on people. Ever!! Everyone has to be prepared by the Lord to accept the gospel. They will have experiences that will soften their hearts. And then, they are ready. Even if they don't know they are ready. So sometimes it's the investigator that the missionaries dropped. Sometimes it's the less active that no one wants to visit anymore. Maybe it's the family member that hasn't been active for years and has numerous problems. Maybe that next door neighbor. Who knows!? Share the gospel! You never know when they are ready. Do them and yourself a favor, overcome your fears or selfishness for your own time and share with them. 

We have an investigator that will be baptized Dec. 1st!!!! Woohooooooo!!! I'm so excited! This is only my second baptism!! The others either haven't happened or I've been transferred first! She is ready!! It is soo awesome to see people change and come to the gospel!! There is nothing better!!

Yesterday after church we did splits. The plan for both the families I visited was to watch a movie, either the Joseph Smith movie or Finding Faith in Christ. Both times, we couldn't watch the movie for one reason or another and so I had to improvise. In both cases, I really had no idea what to teach. A quick silent prayer and opening the scriptures is all you need. Even opening the scriptures didn't give me what I needed. But a question popped into mind. And then, from the question and the answer, and a lot of help from the Holy Ghost, I knew what it was I needed to teach. Both lessons went very well. And it happened several other times this week as well. I can truly testify that the promise of the Lord will be fulfilled if we do our part. Moses 6 I think says open your mouth and it will be filled. Somewhere in D&C says it will be given to you in the very moment. When we prepare and stay worthy and obedient, the Lord will uphold His end of the deal. 

Ah, that's pretty much all I have had this week. It's been an exciting week!! In addition, last night we found a dinosaur mosquito, which was big enough to eat me and Elder Judar comfortably in the same meal. Elder Molnar and I tracked it down and destroyed it! "Do unto others, before they do unto you". Also, today I ran into my good friend Elder Broadhead. I miss that kid to death. It was a good time. 

As far as pics go. I told you last week the cows are everywhere. I also have said you need to teach everyone. So, I tried my hand at introducing the gospel to a few cows. Unfortunately, they weren't very receptive. There is also a pic of our house. Sadly, it is dark and raining and therefore, hard to see. But it is nice. We live on the 3rd floor. Yes, balcony folks. Nice view. And then a pic of Elder Judar after a good days work. But never fear, it's a delicious kind of tired!! And finally, a pic of the demon mosquito. Should have been on the crocodile hunter show. We felt pretty good after taking it down. Success. 

Well, that's all for this week!! Thank you all for everything you do! I love you all! Enjoy the snow for me! Mainit!!!! 

Much love, 

Elder Christensen 

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